In 1970, tenor saxophonist Don Byas returned from Europe to perform at New York's Village Vanguard. He had been living abroad since 1946. A Dutch documentary called Homecoming was made of Byas's one-time return. The artist who Byas refers to as his close friend is pianist Jaki Byard. The band he plays with is the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. Previous clips of this film on YouTube were excerpts or were blurry. Byas died in 1972.
Here's Homecoming...
Here's Homecoming...
This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
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